Devil's Revelry
by RandyPandy
Summary: He was going to be the hero that ruled Neo Arcadia, where the other failed. Or so he planned it, at least. Things never go according to plan. Thank goodness for the Limited, or it could have been much worse. -Major AU- -Giftfic-. iX character tag not available.
1. Chapter 1

_Wow, certainly been awhile since I've posted, hasn't it?_

 _First off, this is for Pardra, for being one of my closest friends and roleplay partners, and is a birthday giftfic. :) Happy birthday, Pardra!_

 _Second - this fic is a major AU. While main game events will be recognized, there are huge differences in the history of the world._

 _For those of you following A Real Hero - it has not been abandoned. I've simply been extremely busy with work. I know where I want to go with it, but I'm having a hard time putting the words on paper. Hopefully I will get at least one more update in it out before the end of the year._

 _ **Pairings:** Only one, and it's never explicitly stated. Pardra knows the pairing, but I'll let the rest of you figure it out._

 _ **Disclaimer:** The Limited belongs to Pardra. All other characters belong to Capcom. These specific AU versions of these characters are all mine._

* * *

Keeping a mask up was hard.

It was only in his private rooms - Xavier's private rooms, he noted sourly at one point - that he was able to drop the mask at all, when he could act like himself and not pretending to act like someone else. It wasn't safe, not even at this stage. If one of them got suspicious, then the others would, too.

The consequences of failing what he was doing was too high. The devil whispered in his ear constantly, and if he wasn't pleased, then Xanatos himself was the one that suffered the punishment. No, he couldn't allow anyone to figure him out, because right now, he was what was holding Neo Arcadia together.

 _He_ was going to be the hero that Xavier couldn't.

The first things that he'd had to do was get rid of Xavier's remaining family; they'd know that he wasn't who he said he was right away. Uncle Reuben and his kids. Xavier's sister and half-brother. Xavier's children that had been built before the Elf Wars. All of them. They had to go.

They'd gotten away, but he'd coldly ordered the entire military force of Neo Arcadia, from the Guardians themselves to the lowest Pantheon footsoldiers, to kill them if they ever showed their faces again.

Of course, he couldn't have the disappearances of so many "family" members without other family getting suspicious.

Phantom and Ciel had come _far_ too close to figuring it out. He had been forced to "convince" Phantom with some help, and despite all efforts to silence Ciel and make it look like an accident instead of murder, she had managed to flee.

She was certainly resourceful for a human female, he had to give her that. But he had Phantom, and he knew that while Harpuia, Fefnir, Leviathan, and Cial were wary of the change in their brother and their sister's disappearance, there was no way that they could assume what had happened without serious repurcussions. He would be more than happy to do the same if it meant that no one would find out.

Fortunately, the devil had been fairly happy with what he'd been doing, and slowly left him to his own devices. But, he had warned him, if he willfully chose to disobey him and he found out, then the consequences would be dire.

Xanatos deeply feared the devil.

He'd feared him all his life, ever since he'd seen how violent the other could get. Even as a small child, Xanatos hadn't been spared his wrath, and this had left him growing up with a feeling of fear and respect for him, and a deep-set hatred towards his father for not protecting him.

Life in Neo Arcadia continued.

* * *

Xanatos had no idea what this... thing was.

He'd found it skulking about in the hallways leading towards Yggdrasil. This area was restricted and banned to everybody except him, so it was a mystery as to how he had gotten there. As for Yggdrasil itself, even he didn't dare mess with the power source of Arcadia - he'd never been in there, and he didn't want to give the devil anymore ideas. For once, Xavier had done something right. Yggdrasil's power source was infinite and wouldn't run out, whatever it was.

From all appearances, it looked like a normal Reploid. The long red hair and gold eyes were unusual amongst humans, but amongst Reploids, that wasn't a strange thing. Lots of Reploid creators went wild with their creations. Even the partially organic nature wasn't strange amongst Reploids. Xanatos knew plenty of Reploids that were partially organic, and he was one of them himself.

The androgynous-looking Reploid had been skulking about the hallways, as if looking for something but not expecting to find it. What it was looking for, Xanatos didn't know, and nor did he care. There were tendrils of red gel (at least, he thought it was gel) coming from the Reploid, and when it noticed him, it turned towards him with some interest.

Hold on, gel? Hadn't he had something whispered in his ear about gel, whenever the devil had spoken soothing words to him in his sleep?

Limited. This was a Limited. A feral one, from the looks of its hungry eyes.

Xanatos tensed and prepared to defend himself from the creature. Feral Limiteds could never be reasoned with, and they were dangerous, eating other Reploids and destroying them. It was terrifying for a normal Reploid or human to look at one, like they were something out of human mythology, a human-like being that acted anything _but_.

The Limited hissed, but then stopped, taking an awkward step forward and making an odd, soft cooing noise at him. Some of the feralness disappeared from its expression as he studied Xanatos, only to be replaced with something a little more gentle. Still feral, but not as if he was about to pounce.

The young Reploid remained tense, red eyes fixed on the creature. Was it trying to lower his guard?

It cooed again, and before Xanatos knew what was happening, the Limited was in his face, staring at him. He almost stumbled back, but it didn't seem interested in attacking or eating him, instead idly poking his arm with one of his gel tendrils or staring at his face. One of the Limited's pale, delicate hands reached up to trace the contours of his face, and Xanatos had to admit that it made him a little uncomfortable.

"You stop that," he finally ordered, backing away from it. What a weird creature.

The Limited seemed to sulk, almost like a dog that had been pushed off when trying to show affection to its owner. It reached down to grab what appeared to be part of a processor (a _Reploid's_ processor, Xanatos noted uncomfortably) and brought it up to its mouth, biting a piece off, chewing it, and swallowing. It never took its eyes off of Xanatos, though it seemed to purr and poke at him with gel.

Did it like him? He didn't know. But if it ate Reploids, he couldn't very well have it following him around. It might turn on him any moment, or it might eat someone that he considered useful. He really should destroy it and end it here.

And yet, the fact it seemed to like him was intriguing. Why did it like him?

He reached out to place a hand on the creature's head, rubbing its head much like one would do an animal. The Limited purred loudly, shoving his head against Xanatos's hand as if demanding that he pet him some more.

This was amusing, but disturbing. This Limited clearly had no qualms about eating Reploids, like most feral ones had in the past, but it didn't seem to want to eat him. Maybe he could use that to his advantage... maybe he could keep this Limited around.

Xanatos eyed the entrance to Yggdrasil. He had access to Yggdrasil, of course, but he didn't like to go in there, and as far as he knew, Yggdrasil itself had no actual guard due to being so difficult to find and access. Perhaps he should set a guard there?

Making up his mind, he placed his hand on the scanner, letting it authorize him through his hands (he'd set it up so that it checked his general facial features instead of his eyes - for whatever reason, Yggdrasil didn't seem to like his eyes and refused to grant him access if it scanned them). When the door slid open, he swallowed, and nudged the Limited towards it.

The Limited made a chirping noise, as if confused, and stepped in, eyeing the giant tree that was Yggdrasil. It didn't seem to be interested in munching on anything other than the Reploid part that it had brought with it, and dropped down against a wall. At least it seemed to be able to distinguish between 'food' (other Reploids) and 'not food' (Yggdrasil itself).

"You stay there," Xanatos demanded, unsure of whether it could even understand him.

It turned towards him, and the young ruler found himself staring at a pair of feral golden eyes again, before it nodded jerkily. So it could understand words after all. The Limited wandered about the room as Xanatos carefully backed out out of the room and closed the door.

Well, if someone broke into Yggdrasil, they would meet a feral Limited. And it would probably eat them. Oh well. It wasn't Xanatos' problem anymore, and no one need know that he was keeping a feral Limited down here.

Even the devil didn't need to know. This was Xanatos's secret.

* * *

The very next day, Xanatos checked on the creature, still not going too close to Yggdrasil. The Reploid processor that it had been eating was gone, and Xanatos had the feeling it had completely devoured it.

It hadn't touched Yggdrasil and seemed fairly bored, but perked up a little when it saw him, making a happy chirping noise, sliding over to demand petting. It even shoved its head underneath his hand in order to receive it.

This was bizarre. Xanatos petted it, muttered a bit of praise, and then quickly left. The Limited unnerved him.

Despite his wariness of the creature, he did continue visit, telling himself that he was merely checking to make sure that it hadn't eaten Yggdrasil, but the visits tapered off. At first, he went every day. And then every few days. A week. A few weeks. A few months. A year. Finally, he stopped visiting the Limited altogether, confident that it would guard Yggdrasil to the best of its ability and prevent Neo Arcadia's power source from being completely destroyed.

He was busy anyways. That upstart girl, Ciel, had managed to start up a rebellion of sorts against his government. Just because he killed a few criminal Reploids to prevent waste of power. Really, what kind of girl was this to protect such people? Cial had been taking her twin sister's actions as a personal insult, which he was thankful for, and she had been working hard to ensure Neo Arcadia ran smoothly under him.

To make matters worse, Ciel recruited someone that had been believed dead.

Even the devil that murmured to him had not counted on his presence.

When he first saw Zero, he knew that the other didn't look a thing like he had during the older days. In fact, it was rumored that Zero was inhabiting another person's body, and he believed it. This person's features were a little different, the hair was a different shade - a little lighter - and the eyes were violet instead of blue.

That made him no less dangerous.

And Xanatos hated him. The man that had protected Xavier all of his life, that had defended him no matter what happened. Why did he have no one like that to protect him? This man, that knew immediately that he wasn't Xavier, that could read him... That looked far too much like the devil to make Xanato's comfortable.

That was probably why he fell to his blade. That was why he failed. That was why he couldn't defeat Zero.

The devil was going to torment his soul for this, he just knew it. Even as his vision faded, he could swear that he heard him laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

_Part 2 of the giftfic for Pardra, for Christmas 2016._

 _Very little will make any sense to anyone that doesn't RP with us, so please don't comment on how utterly confused you are._

 _I'm only posting this here at her request. XD_

* * *

Waking up nearly a century into the future in his son's body was not something that Zero had been planning on.

At least it meant that he wasn't alone. Roze was mostly quiet, having still been young when he'd demanded that Zero share his body after he'd lost his own. He wanted to keep his creator close, he had said. He didn't want to lose him like he'd lost his sister, the other being that had been created from his father's DNA.

Zero didn't know who the girl, Ciel, or all those people in the Resistance were, either. But he did know Roze, and he did know one more thing for sure.

The person that was running Neo Arcadia was not Xavier. Ciel had told him that much... and that Xavier had been missing for years. That one day, he had vanished without a trace to chase some threat and had never returned. Then that person that had resembled him to an incredible degree had shown up, pretending to be him.

The other had been young. Zero could tell just from looking at him that despite being a normal Reploid, there was an immaturity through him that indicated he did not have life experience and had merely been _told_ several things. But who would tell him such things? Who would tell him to rule Neo Arcadia pretending to be someone that he wasn't, even if he eerily resembled him?

He'd felt relieved when he had taken Xanatos down. Relieved, but not happy. He didn't like killing children, and Xanatos had looked far too close to Xavier for comfort... but he had had _his_ eyes, those blood-colored eyes that he had despised.

The black hair had been identical to Xavier's. Black. Short. Fluffy. That had unnerved him. And with his eyes closed in death, he had looked exactly like Xavier. Zero hadn't liked it. He'd fled as soon as he had possibly been able to, far from Neo Arcadia and the Resistance, far into the desert, until he could walk no more.

He was sure that he had been hallucinating, because he could swear that Xavier had been talking to him while he had been laying down in the desert. But that was impossible. Xavier was dead. If he wasn't dead, then there would be no reason for him to have let things get so bad. He knew Xavier better than he knew himself sometimes.

 _'Dad,'_ Roze spoke up suddenly. _'Was someone talking to us?'_

Surely Roze hadn't seen Xavier as well? They might have shared a body and a processor, but they were split in the same way that a computer could be partitioned into two different OSes as long as there was enough space. They shouldn't be hallucinating the same thing.

And yet they had. Which could mean only one thing.

Xavier was still alive.

* * *

Yggdrasil was one of the most secure places in Neo Arcadia. There were rumors that even not-Xavier (he had no other name for the being) himself had refused to go there, not wanting to disturb the energy source of Neo Arcadia, and he was the only person that had had access. No one knew what the energy source of Neo Arcadia was, what had been keeping it going all these years that Xavier hadn't been around.

Whether not-Xavier did was a secret the other had taken to his grave. Literally, as he would discover later.

For whatever reason, Elpizo had known _something_ and had seen fit to destroy the energy source. Zero hurried. Whenever he felt too weary in his processor to keep going, Roze would push them along, taking control of the body or encouraging Zero forward.

Neo Arcadia was Xavier's most precious thing, and he couldn't allow it to be destroyed because of one insane ex-leader of a military group. Really, it was like Sigma and Redips all over again. What was it about military leaders that made them go insane and become the very thing that they were fighting against?

However, when he got there, it seemed that needn't have worried.

Most of Elpizo's body was gone, having been torn to pieces. Sitting amongst the remains was a familiar redhead, gel surrounding him and all, eating Elpizo's core and the processor. The other had been ripped apart right in front of Yggdrasil's power source, almost as if he had tried to attack... and the other had defended it.

"Caprice," Zero breathed, not believing what he was seeing. The last time he had seen the Limited-Reploid hybrid, the other had been quiet, still fairly shy, but not ripping random Reploids to pieces unless they threatened Xavier. It was almost disturbing to see him eating the corpse... like a cannibal. Still, he tried to swallow the fact that he was disturbed.

 _'Ew.'_

Roze seemed to have no qualms about voicing his disgust, at least.

Caprice looked up from where he had been chewing on Elpizo's core, synthblood trailing down his lips, his eyes fixing on Zero's own. There seemed to be no recognition. A low growl came from the Limited's throat and he hissed one word, indicating to the power source behind him.

" _Mine_."

His voice was scratchy, as if he hadn't used it in a long time - and with a pang, Zero was sure that, given how long it had been, Caprice very well could have remained quiet for a long time, refusing human or Reploid contact, staying down here in Yggdrasil... Why was he in Yggdrasil in the first place?

Caprice loped forward threateningly, as if intending to fight Zero just for being near here.

"Caprice, no," Zero said, shaking his head. He didn't want to fight the redhead. "Don't attack. You'll regret it. You know me. Vati. Remember?"

The redhead continued, gel wiggling with anticipation of another Reploid to eat. While plugging himself into Yggdrasil's branches had given him an infinite energy source, Elpizo and now Zero were the first Reploids to wander in years later. And Zero looked like _him_.

 _"Caprice, stop."_

The redhead froze, and Zero froze too at the familiar voice, and turned around.

He was hallucinating again. He had to be. Just like in the desert. But that could only be one person.

"Xavier..." Zero breathed, staring at the hologram. Xavier seemed to be dressed in typical Neo Arcadian finery indicating that he had been of a high status. He looked exhausted, however, and was staring at the two of them.

"Zero... Cappy... finally, I can talk to you again," Xavier murmured, but that was all he managed to get out before he was interrupted.

Caprice was screeching. He looked furious, angry, and he lashed out towards Xavier. Zero would have screamed a warning, but the Limited stopped just before he made physical contact.

"Xav. _Xav_ ," Cappy cried, looking angry. It looked like he wanted to scold Xavier for something. For what, no one could say for sure, but Zero was confident that it was because the other had up and disappeared for several years. Zero had been unconscious and Caprice had... Caprice had been down here.

"I'm sorry," Xavier murmured, placing one hologram hand against Caprice's cheek. Zero stepped closer to the two of them. "I'm sorry to all three of you. Zero, Roze, Cappy. I should have been there for all of you."

"Damn right you should have," Zero finally said, and Caprice hissed in agreement. "Are you going to explain why the hell you are a ghost?"

Before Xavier could say anything, Caprice let out a sad sound, gesturing towards Yggdrasil. Zero frowned, about to ask why the Limited was pointing there, before Caprice grabbed his hand - albeit roughly - and dragged him forward so that he was peeking into the partially transparent enclosure.

Yggdrasil was the perfect prison, Zero realized. Place a Reploid in there, and they would never get out - Yggdrasil would keep them unconscious and siphon away at their core, their very source of power. Anything that was kept in there would remain in there until someone removed it.

That was probably why Elpizo had been after it. There was probably something extremely powerful there if it had been providing energy Neo Arcadia for so long.

"Look in there," Xavier murmured, turning his head away.

It was then Zero saw it, and he stepped back. "No..."

Caprice moaned sadly again, draping himself partially over the enclosure, over the Reploid body that was in there.

Xavier's body looked peaceful while asleep, in a sitting position, his eyes closed and his head bowed. The scarf that he had gotten from Reuben was missing from his neck, and Zero suddenly realized that he had, in fact, seen the Reploid that currently had the scarf. And that Reploid was dead.

It would have looked completely natural if it weren't for how Xavier's core was exposed and active, various cables from Yggdrasil entering it, siphoning energy away from it. Under normal circumstances, it would have drained it completely until it had given out. But Xavier's core was special. It was made of Fortenium, an infinite energy source.

Xavier could power Neo Arcadia for eternity, in an era where energy was scarce and hard to come by. He had sacrificed his physical life just to be here.

"That explains why you went missing," Zero said. "But it does not explain why you are a ghost."

The hologram turned away. "I am not sure myself."

"Different," Caprice said. "Not strange or bad. Different."

The hologram turned away from Zero to face the Limited, reaching out to place his hand on his cheek again. Though Caprice couldn't feel it, Zero was sure, the other began to try to nuzzle against it anyways.

Zero wasn't sure he wanted to watch this, and he cleared his throat. Xavier bit his lip, and moved his hand away from Caprice.

"I can't go into my body. If I do, then nothing will power Neo Arcadia, and... and its not safe," he whispered. " _He'll_ destroy it."

"Who?" Zero asked, his voice sharp. There was a threat?

"Who else?" Xavier replied. "The one who has been trying to destroy any trace of 'me' from the start. The one who would delight in seeing the world burn. The Harbinger, the God of Destruction, the devil. If he found me here, then he would destroy my body - and I would die with it."

"He's here? How come he hasn't destroyed you yet?" Zero asked.

Caprice growled, visibly agitated by the idea of destruction.

"He isn't here. He used that... that puppet that resembled me, I think, to monitor Neo Arcadia. I never got a good look at him, I didn't want him to see me."

"That boy," Zero breathed. "The boy that looked like you that I killed."

"Mean, Vati," Caprice sulked, as if upset at Zero for killing him.

That only meant trouble, and not because Caprice was sulking and starting to act more like himself than he had in years. Zero knew that if the puppet was dead, then the puppetmaster would reveal himself. And that meant that _he_ would come here.

He glanced towards Xavier's body, trapped in Yggdrasil.

"You can't let him destroy me," Xavier told them.

Despite the situation, Zero snorted. "Well, of course. You think I'm going to let him _finally_ kill you permanently?" Asimov knew that the devil had been trying to kill Xavier since he had been a young Reploid.

"Don't hurt Xav," Cappy agreed, some of the feral look from his eyes leaving as he cooed and rubbed his cheek against Yggdrasil's cover.

"Zero," Xav said, glancing down at Caprice and his body. "My core isn't the only thing powering Yggdrasil. She's... I have your daughter. She's inside of my body. I believe that is why I am like this. There was only room for one Cyber-Elf in that body."

Zero's breath caught. There had been no trace of her throughout the Elf Wars, ever since she had vanished into the desert after the devil had warped her into... /that/. He'd hated it, he'd hated that no one could go after her without getting corrupted, he hated that she was sad and scared and upset about it.

"It's why /he/ can't detect her, why he hasn't tried to take her again. She's the real reason I am inside Yggdrasil, powering it. Providing Neo Arcadia with a source of infinite power through her and my core was a bonus."

"My daughter," Zero said slowly. "Mother Elf Charite."

"Yes." Xavier looked exhausted, glancing up. "He's coming. Any day. Zero, you _have_ to be ready. We can't let another tragedy like the Elf Wars happen again, under any circumstances."

Zero wasn't so sure that he could prevent something like that from happening again, but he was going to do his hardest to try.


End file.
